I’ve been meaning to write about this, but I have been putting this off. You see… I’m quite a Procrastination Queen when I want to be.

Anyway, to cut the long story short… Mamarazzi and I were rampaging around in the vicinity of a certain bookstore somewhere last month. Rampaging around is our favourite pass time. You see… we enjoy terrorizing people with our presence and we enjoy stuffing our face with food, and it is amazing that we did not ballooned into the mold of a whale just yet, praise the good Lord for that.

That rampaging session was a little bit more extraordinary than our usual session, because a friend who came back from a country so far away joined us for lunch, and later on, a trip to a bookstore. (This friend enjoyed reading too… so it was a pleasure for us to brainwash him to spend his money there… LOL)

That’s the first time I met the said friend, and I’m really pleased that he’s not horrified with our monstrous antics. The friend gave me a little handphone accessory as something to remember him by, and we had a great time having local delicacies together as our lunch. We had small talks… getting to know each other with the limited time. And I must say, it was a memorable meet-up.

However, that is not the thing that makes the meeting memorable and rather eye opening for me. It is what he said that makes the meeting imprinted in my memory… and I suspect it will be imprinted in my memories forever.

I was asking him, rather excitedly… whether he enjoyed living overseas with exotic food abundant, with beautiful cultures to observe, and 4 seasons to enjoy.  I sat there… having goo goo eyes, expecting him to tell me something that is worthy of my novel.

But… to my surprise…he said… so-so… and told me that Malaysia have more varieties of foreign food sold and tastes better. And I was told… that he thinks that the town he lives in… is rather… lifeless in comparison to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia despite of it’s historical value to the rest of the world. Our country is much more vibrant than where he lives.

I was taken aback. Really taken aback. I did not expect him to tell me that. I expect him to tell me his experience in a foreign land… I expect him to tell me how he enjoyed the vibrant life there… and I expect him to tell me how he find the culture in that country is fascinating and beautiful.

When my friend said that… I realize that perhaps I’ve been missing… or rather… not seeing a lot of thing. I have been somewhat blinded, for I have lived in Malaysia far too long to appreciate the variety of food and the abundance of our culture. I have been living far too long in Malaysia to realize that I don’t actually need to go any part in the world to sample tasty, exotic food or to experience an exotic, exciting life. It’s all here… in Malaysia.

I don’t need to go to Japan to eat sushi, sashimi or tempura…. or oyakudon… or authentic udon noodles…or my favourite takoyaki…

I don’t need to fly to Mexico for tacos, tamales, burritos or even fajitas…

I don’t have to pay air fair to Italy if I want to have spaghetti,  or extra large pizza to comfort myself with when I’m stressed to the max…

I don’t have to go to India so that I can eat briyani, prata, chappati, hot spicy curries…

I don’t have to go to Thailand for my favourite Tomyam soup… mango salads…pattaya and pad thais…

And hell… I don’t even have to go to the Middle East for some kebabs that I adore so much, and omigosh, I don’t need to go to France for the baguette and croissant that I almost can’t live without!

I may not realize it… but whatever I want to eat…it’s all here in Malaysia…I just need to know where to get it… and I daresay that if I go to some local food court, I can have almost everything that the entire world have to offer and at a reasonable price too. All I need is just money to buy them!

Varieties. Vibrants. International. Nightlife. We have it all in Malaysia. And I am ashamed to say that I tend to take that for granted…we actually have a lot of things, and yet, we do not see that. We are rich in culture…we are beautiful…and yet… why do we not appreciate it? Is it because the grass is always greener on the other side?

Cleffairy: With our appetite and appreciation for food, we could actually be the centre of the world…. we never fail to not only bring back all sort of exotic recipe back, but we manage to improvise them too! But I think… I still need to go to Mexico or Italy if I want someone to serenade to me. LOL.

ps: There’s no prize guessing what I’ll be doing for the upcoming Raya holiday. LOL…. lemme see… ketupat, lemang, rendang… gulai kawah… dodol…wajik… serunding…*YUMMY* *DROOL*